Funniest possible team reportedly eyeing Yankees' Devin Williams in free agency

The New York Yankees and free agent Devin Williams are likely headed in different directions. While Williams proved to be a capable setup man for David Bednar over the last couple of months of the season, someone will throw closer-level money at Williams this winter, effectively removing the Yankees from the situation.

Williams spoke positively of the Yankees after the season and appears genuinely open to returning to the Bronx, but his words don’t mean much, not with more money (and more opportunity) expected to be on the table elsewhere.

Actually, there’s already a surprising (and sort of hilarious) team emerging in the rumor mill for Williams’s services.

The Miami Marlins will reportedly target Devin Williams to be their next closer

If Williams’s horrific March and April in pinstripes had extended much further, he’d be looking at an empty list of free-agent suitors right now. The low-key truth, however, is that Williams’s NYY season was about more than just his groundbreaking victory over the organization's antiquated facial hair policy.

While that was indeed Williams’s greatest feat as a Yankee, the guy was actually solid on the mound once he settled into a setup role. He posted a 0.93 ERA in June and by August had done enough to begin thawing all of New York City’s harrowing image of him as an abject failure, which in April seemed destined to be frozen in time forevermore.

Williams was reliable in the postseason, too, and the Marlins were apparently pleased with what they saw. According to Fish On First’s Kevin Barral, Miami is expected to go after Williams in free agency.

“A source tells Fish On First that Williams is a name the (Marlins) will target,” Barral wrote.

“He is coming off a season where he posted a career-worst 4.79 ERA, but he also had a 2.68 FIP—almost identical to his previous full-length season in 2023. Williams set career-highs in innings pitched and appearances while having a 13.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. In four appearances in the playoffs, Williams tossed four innings of shutout baseball.”

“Per multiple reports, the opportunity to return to a closer's role will play a factor in which team Williams decides to go to,” Barral continued. “The Marlins went with a closer by committee in 2025. Even if Williams does not pitch the ninth inning every time, we can assume he would be deployed in the highest leverage situations possible.”

It’s amazing how much changes over the span of a 162-game season. Through April of the 2025 campaign, Williams and his 9.00 ERA wouldn’t have been able to dine in peace at any restaurant in New York. Zoom ahead to October, and Williams now promises to be too expensive and too desired by other teams for the Yankees to keep him around.